Interesting Reading…

Graphene-based Gadgets May Be Just Years Away - “Researchers at The University of Manchester have produced tiny liquid crystal devices with electrodes made from graphene — an exciting development that could lead to computer and TV displays based on this technology…”

Robotic Highlights from the Hannover Fair - “Robots once again overran the Hannover Fair, which comes to a close today. The fair had its usual lineup of industrial robots. But there were highlights, including the world’s strongest articulated arm robot, design advances aimed at making robots safer for nearby human workers and a new pavilion dedicated to mobile robots…”

A Safer Way to Jot Notes on the Road - “Frequently depicted as a tool of writers, psychiatrists and FBI agents in movies, the miniature tape recorder has become the go-to device for convenient note taking. Digital capabilities have made this invention even smaller in recent years for greater portability. But the major disadvantage of the digital voice recorder (which is also the major disadvantage of hauling around a pen and paper) is that if a person doesn’t have the recorder on them, the idea is still lost. Now, a new service is using the convenience of cell phones to provide an alternative solution. And unlike digital recorders, which usually cost $50 or more, the service is free….”

Race Is On to Advance Software for Chips - “In the computer world’s equivalent of “The Amazing Race,” three rival teams of computer researchers are working on new types of software needed to better use computer chips that can process many tasks at the same time. Stanford University and six computer and chip makers plan to announce Friday the creation of the Pervasive Parallelism Lab. Besides Stanford, the backers are Sun Microsystems, Advanced Micro Devices, Nvidia, I.B.M., Hewlett-Packard and Intel. Last month, Intel and Microsoft announced they were jointly financing new labs at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to tackle the same problem.”

Thinking of Trading-in that SUV for a Fuel Efficient Sedan? Good Luck! - “Most owners who go to a car dealership looking to trade their current ride in for something new usually come out shell-shocked when they learn what the dealership is willing to give them for their trade. Those choosing to turn in their SUV right now will certainly be finding their trade-in value far from what they had invisioned…”

Architecture astronauts take over - “The hallmark of an architecture astronaut is that they don’t solve an actual problem… they solve something that appears to be the template of a lot of problems. Or at least, they try. Since 1988 many prominent architecture astronauts have been convinced that the biggest problem to solve is synchronization…”

Free Science and Video Lectures Online! - “This month I present to you a mind blowing collection of physics video lectures! I am getting my own physics degree in two months and I am excited about these lectures as never before!”

In a New Climate Model, Short-Term Cooling in a Warmer World - “After decades of research that sought, and found, evidence of a human influence on the earth’s climate, climatologists are beginning to shift to a new and similarly daunting enterprise: creating decade-long forecasts for climate, just as meteorologists routinely generate weeklong forecasts for weather…”

Life-changing books: Recommendations from 17 leading scientists - “A great book has the power to move, inspire or even change lives. From adventure tales of the Arctic to the ultimate in quantum weirdness, here are the books that have left a lasting impression on some of the world’s top scientists, including Oliver Sacks, Michio Kaku, Jane Goodall, and more. Exclusive online contributions come from Daniel Everett, Elaine Morgan and Chris Frith…”

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